Protecting property rights

Overview

The Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act, 2022, (formerly Bill 3) stops people from taking ownership of someone else’s land.

The act prevents people who aren’t the registered owners of a piece of property from taking ownership of it through claims of adverse possession (commonly called squatter’s rights) after occupying it for least 10 years. 

Changes save landowners time and money fighting potential claims while providing relief from needing to continually monitor property so they can use and enjoy what they rightfully own.

We heard from Albertans that more needs to be done to protect landowners from these claims during extensive public consultations conducted by an MLA Select Special Committee on Real Property Rights. The committee included a recommendation to abolish adverse possession in their June 2022 report.

Key changes

The Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act, 2022: 

• updates the Law of Property Act, Land Titles Act, and Limitations Act to eliminate claims of adverse possession, commonly called squatter’s rights
• removes the burden from registered property owners to continually monitor their land to prevent people from taking possession 
• allows registered property owners to get a court order at any time to regain possession of their property from someone who illegally occupies it

For more information, read the Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act, 2022, fact sheet (PDF, 309 KB).

Next steps

The Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act, 2022, took effect when it received royal assent on December 15, 2022.

News

• Protecting Albertans’ property rights (December 5, 2022)